Reference Genome Sequencing Of The Elite Bread Wheat Cultivar, “Sonmez”

Abstract Objectives High-yielding crop varieties will become critical in meeting the future food demand in the face of worsening weather extremes and threatening biotic stressors. Bread wheat cultivar Sonmez-2001 is a registered variety that is notable for its performance under low irrigation conditions, which further improves upon irrigation. In order to explore and exploit the genomic potential of this elite variety, in 2015, we sequenced the modern elite cultivar Sonmez genome which represents a diverse genetic background. Data description Here, we provide a reference-guided whole genome sequence of Sonmez-2001, assembled into 21 chromosomes of the A, B and D genomes and totaling to 13.3 gigabase-pairs in length. Additionally, a de novo assembly, of an additional 1.05 gigabase-pairs, was generated that represents either Sonmez-specific sequences or sequences that considerably diverged between Sonmez and Chinese Spring. We identified up to 24 million sequence variants, of which up to 2.4% reside in coding sequences, that can be used to develop molecular markers that should be of immediate use to the cereal community.